After the exploring the WW2 history in the south, we headed north to appreciate some of the more light-hearted attractions of this tropical island. And it doesn’t get more light-hearted than this:
Nago Pineapple Park
For anyone who has ever thought there are not enough fruit-based theme parks in the world, you’re in luck. The Nago Pineapple Park is a fun, and more than a little bizarre, homage to this popular tropical produce.
Start the visit by riding one of the three character-based shuttles from the parking lot to the main entrance.
Enter the park to take a ride on a self-driving golf cart, pimped out with pineapple bodywork. Of course. The catchy theme tune (listen here) plays throughout the ride, interjected by informative commentary about the history and cultivation of pineapples around the world. Who knew there were so many different sub-species of them?!
From what we could tell, they have examples of every type of pineapple found around the world.
In a completely unrelated tangent, the visit of the pineapple park includes an extensive exhibition of sea shells, many of exceptional rarity. The logic of why this is even here never became apparent, but after seeing it, it’s an interesting bonus.
Of course what visit to a theme park would be complete without a gift shop. Here it’s possible to buy anything under the sun you could ever think of that may be made from a pineapple, plus others that I guarantee you would not have thought of.
Heart Rock
Further north, the tiny island of Kouri Jima is linked by bridge to the main Okinawa island (via another small island). On its north shore is a natural wonder that draws a number of Japanese selfie-seekers: Heart Rock. Getting a photo without any random strangers filling the frame takes patience, although watching the posing taking place while you wait is still entertaining as few end up quite wet.
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
One of the most popular and busiest attractions on the island, is the aquarium. It was for a time the largest aquarium in the world and it is as impressive as you would imagine for a place with that title.
The aquarium is built around its largest tank, the Kuroshio Sea, named after the warm current that passes along the west coast of the Okinawa island chain. Fresh saltwater from the ocean is pumped through the tank from a source a few hundred metres off shore. The star attractions are the 3 whale sharks they are attempting to breed, but this is also one of only a handful of aquariums in the world with manta rays, which they have been able to breed.
The visit through the aquarium starts in the shallows of the ocean, with creatures from tidal areas and rock pools. You move deeper into the water, around a coral reef tank, then deeper still until reaching the Kuroshio Sea.
The aquarium gets exceptionally busy during the middle of the day, so much so that the website offers historical and predicted future congestion summaries to help plan a visit at a quieter time. Admission ticket prices are discounted by roughly 33% after 4pm which has the added benefit of also being less crowded. Relatively speaking of course.
Overall it is a very worthwhile place to visit and certainly the best aquarium we’ve ever seen.
We had hoped to be able to fit in a day of scuba diving while there, but the effects of a nearby tropical storm made the diving operators suspend operations due to rough seas. The Blue Cave is a popular snorkelling spot where Japanese tourists go en-mass. We paid a visit to see it, but the hoards of city-slicker visitors from the mainland making a noise and splashing about in their life vests as they’re herded between the other large groups into and out of the cave, did not look like fun. Instead we went to enjoy the relative calm of a nearby beach and enjoy what was left of our time on Okinawa.
Links
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium – churaumi.okinawa/en/
Nago Pineapple Park – www.nagopineapplepark.com
Jan & Warren's Spot 